How Can I Tell the Position of My Baby?

My baby was breech at 24 weeks and I am now 32 weeks. I don’t know if my baby is still in the breech position or not. How can I find out other than having an ultrasound scan done? Everybody on my pregnancy forum posts that they feel their baby is down!

Regards,
Padma

Hi Padma,

Your doctor or midwife will be able to feel the baby’s position by just palpating your belly where your uterus is at. In fact, you can probably feel your baby’s position, though it’s harder to tell if you don’t have a lot of practice.

If you press in on your baby near your pubic bone, see if you can feel something hard there – a hard, rounded shape is often the head. If you wiggle it and get only a small amount of movement, that’s probably the head. A softer rounded part is often the baby’s bottom. If you wiggle that, the whole of the baby’s body will move.

If you have a Braxton-hicks contraction while you’re feeling your baby’s position, stop and wait for it to pass. All parts of the baby feel very hard while the uterus is squeezing down!

Your baby’s back will feel like a smooth, long, slightly rounded part on your belly. You’ll often feel this on one side of your belly, then feel lots of bumps on the other – this is where your baby’s knees and elbows are. Tiny feet may be lodged near your ribs.

Feeling lots of gentle flutters down low, and harder kicks up high, is a good indication the baby is head down. The flutters are finger and hands brushing – the harder kicks are your baby’s feet and knees.

Ask your doctor or midwife to tell you what position your baby is in at your next appointment. Then ask him or her to help you feel your baby so you’ll get more familiar with how to feel your little one’s position!

Remember it’s very common for babies to move a lot when they’re smaller, such as your baby was at 24 weeks. Most babies do settle head-down as pregnancy progresses. You can also do a lot to work with your baby and encourage him or her to turn into a head-down position!